Rio Tinto - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

RIO TINTO (MINAS DE RIo TINT0), a mining town of southwestern Spain, in the province of Huelva; near the source of the river Tinto, and at the terminus of a light railway from the port of Huelva. Pop. (1900) 11,603. Rio Tinto is one of the greatest copper-mining centres in the world; and it is from the discoloration of its waters by copper ore that the river derives its name. Besides the town of Minas, several villages are peopled by the native miners, whose numbers exceed 10,000; and one is occupied solely by British mine officials. The surrounding country is covered for miles with heaps of slag, and has been reduced to a desert. In 1903 the output of the mines included. 840,000 tons of copper ore, worth more than 500,000, besides a relatively small quantity of iron and manganese. Almost the entire product is despatched to Huelva for shipment to Great